


I'd Be Singing You to Sleep

by Vertencar



Series: Listen to the Sound of a New Tomorrow [7]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Pond Family, Sickfic, sick!doctor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-22 17:24:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10701639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vertencar/pseuds/Vertencar
Summary: The Doctor descended the stairs towards the front door, his grip white on the railing as he seemed to be holding his own weight with great difficulty. He looked up slowly and at her sight he let out a faint groan. Amy had just the time to see his eyes rolling into their orbit as he tumbled over.





	I'd Be Singing You to Sleep

**Author's Note:**

> Story title by Broods with "Recovery"
> 
> This fic is a part of my 'Love is a Polaroid' story but it got a bit too long (oops), so I decided to separate it and to make it a story of its own.  
> Takes place during River's third and last year at Luna.  
> And happy Doctor/River appreciation day!

The living room at the Pond’s house was silent, the only noise disturbing this perfect silence was the quiet sound of the pages of a magazine turning. Amy was comfortably seated in her couch with her feet tucked under her. A cup of cold tea was placed on the coffee table by her side, untouched. Rory was in their bedroom, sorting through his winter clothes to tidy away the things he won’t be wearing anymore this year. 

It was a warm morning of the middle of April and the days were finally getting warmer, the sun was beginning to peek through the dense film of clouds on the sky. Inside the living room, the rays of the sun were making the shadows elongate on the parquet.

_Vworp vworp vworp_

Amy looked up from her magazine abruptly. A small smile began to grace her lips. She threw the magazine on the table, nearly knocking down her tea mug and stood up quickly. She began to run to the backdoor, passing through the hall and the kitchen. Opening the backdoor swiftly, she let out a shriek and backed away when the TARDIS nearly collided into her. It came crashing into the wall, still in the process of materialising, and bounced back into the backyard. It was having trouble landing properly. The long trail of dirt into the grass indicated that the TARDIS had finally materialised after long seconds and it was now safe to come near it.

With wide eyes, Amy ran to the doors of the TARDIS the faster she could. A little voice at the back of her mind was telling her that something was definitely wrong. She opened the door in a swift motion. Smoke whisked at her face as the doors opened and she hid her face in her arm at the sudden shock. Once the smoke had cleared out, she could finally see what was inside the TARDIS.

"Doctor?" She called for him, the smoke inside still creating a foggy atmosphere. At his sight, she cried out, "Doctor!" 

The Doctor descended the stairs towards the front door, his grip white on the railing as he seemed to be holding his own weight with great difficulty. He looked up slowly and at her sight he let out a faint groan. Amy had just the time to see his eyes rolling into their orbit as he tumbled over. She quickly ran to him and held him in her arms just as he fell from the last step of the stairs. His weight on her forced her to fall with him in her arms.

"Oh God, Doctor look at me." She said, taking his head in her hands and trying to make him look at her. His eyes were slightly open, moving in every direction except to her, it was like he was in a delusional state where he couldn't focus on one thing. "Oh God, oh God. Rory!" She shouted at the top of her lung. "Rory!"

He appeared at the threshold of the door, out of breath. As his eyes fell on the Doctor in the arms of his wife, he pushed himself towards them and fell on his knees at their side. "What happened?" He asked his wife, taking the Doctor’s head in his hand and checking his pulse. He heard Amy beside him telling him that she didn’t know. He took his flashlight out of his pocket and looked into the Doctor’s eye with it. "He’s going into shock." He murmured. "He’s going into shock!" He said, this time louder, the realisation dawning upon him. "We’ve got to take him in." He stood up and Amy did the same, he ordered her to take his legs as he took the upper part of the Doctor’s body. "Quickly."

They quickly went out of the TARDIS and into the house. Commanding Amy to go up the stairs and towards the bedroom to lay the Doctor on a bed, he kept talking to the nearly unconscious man in his arms, telling him to hold on and keep his eyes open. The Doctor’s head lolled to the side as he was being transported to the guest bedroom.

Once they arrived on the bedroom, they gently placed him on the bed and Rory quickly went to take his pulse again. A frown appeared on his face, his head shot in Amy’s direction, "Call River." As he saw his wife with wide eyes on the side, not doing anything, he repeated his command, more firmly this time. "Call River! This is not shock, I don’t know what it is and every second is precious."

Amy sprang into action, running down the hall to find her phone and catch River. Rory held the Doctor’s head in his hand for him not to move as he began to tremble. "Come on, stay with me Doc. Look at me." As the Doctor faintly tried to look at him, his vision getting fuzzier by the minute, Rory tried to sooth him. "It’s okay, you’re okay." He kept telling him.

Rory couldn’t do anything to help his friend, the Doctor had once forbidden him to use any earthy medication on him because some of them could be deadly to Time Lords. Rory had never seen anyone else having what the Doctor was having at the moment and it enraged him because he was a nurse and he couldn’t help. That’s why he told Amy to call River, she would know what to do with the Doctor and for the moment it was their only chance for him to get through this.

Amy ran up the stairs and into the bedroom with her phone at her ear. She was frantically talking to River. On the other side of the phone, the voice was also rapidly talking, worried. Amy abruptly hang up, "River’s coming, she’ll be there in a second."

As if on cue, the sound of a vortex manipulator was heard from downstairs and then feet running on the floor and to the stairs were heard. River appeared at the doorway, heavily breathing. She saw her father hunched over the Doctor on the bed, holding his face. The Doctor had began to breathe heavily.

"Oh my…" River ran to him, on the other side of the bed where Rory wasn’t. She touched the Doctor’s forehead and felt the burning temperature under her fingers. A worried frown on her forehead showed, she didn’t know what was happening to him. "Come on, give me some clue!" She cried out. The Doctor was now struggling to breath easily as if he was asphyxiating. "Remove his bowtie and the first button of his shirt." She directed to her father. "Hold his chin to help him breathe." She turned to her mother who was behind them, biting her nails and her eyes wet. "Open the window."

"Hum, River…" Rory called for her and quickly directed her attention to him.

He showed her the Doctor’s neck where red long trails of mark were coming out from under his shirt. Wide eyed, she quickly unbuttoned the Doctor’s shirt from top to bottom and discovered long red marks coming from his left heart.

"No," She muttered to herself frantically. "No, no, no."

"River, what is it?" Rory asked her, a panic look on his face. Whatever this was, this seemed to be very, very bad.

"Bad." She stood up from the bed abruptly. Looking around her, she asked, "Where’s the TARDIS?"

"In the backyard." Rory responded instantly. "But-"

"No time." She took her vortex manipulator and began to input coordinates rapidly. "Remove his jacket and shirt, don’t do anyth-"

In a puff of smoke, River disappeared, leaving her parents alone and not knowing what to do. She appeared a second after in the med bay on the TARDIS and began to storm into cupboards, searching for something. After turning everything inside out, she let out a exasperated sigh and groaned in rage. A small beeping noise from the TARDIS made her look up from the cupboard she was currently searching in. And there it was, exactly what she needed, laying on the table in the center of the room. Running to it and grabbing it, she thanked the old girl and just like that she was gone.

River reappeared ten seconds after she had disappeared and saw her parents trying to remove the Doctor’s clothes. 

She ran to the Doctor who has started hyperventilating and urged her parents to back away. They did as they were told and saw River approaching the Doctor with something in her hand. They watched her tingle with the thing she had in hand, popping a button open, it was probably medicine. It looked like a needle except there wasn’t any needle but a circle of pointy tiny things that looked like triangles. After letting out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, River sank the medicine right into the Doctor’s left heart with force. Pushing the button to let the fluid inside it pour into the Doctor’s chest, River placed her other hand on his bare chest as she removed the now empty medicine, pleading him to please be alright.

The Doctor stilled and didn’t move for at least ten seconds. River bit her lip, holding her breath as her parents behind her were doing the same. The red marks on the Doctor’s chest began to slowly decrease. Suddenly, he took a large intake of breath and began to cough, his eyes opening wide. The three other people in the room all let out a breath and Amy began to cry out of relief.

The Doctor hunched over still coughing and River saw the cue, she quickly turned to her father. "Dad, bucket, quick."

Understanding instantly, he sprinted out of the room and came back seconds later with an empty bucket. He handed it to River and she held it in front of the Doctor just as he began to vomit his guts out. She rubbed his back in reassurance as he groaned. Once he was finished, River handed back the bucket to her father who took it out of the room.

River helped the Doctor back into a laying position and she fluffed the pillow under his head, she sat on the edge of the bed and Amy came to sit on the other side. "You’re alright now." River spoke, brushing his fringe back out of his eyes. His hair was covered in sweat and he exhaled a trembling breath. He opened his mouth to try to talk but River shushed him. "Don’t talk, it will only weaken you more that you already are."

He nodded slowly, understanding. 

Rory came back with a glass of water and handed it to River. She helped the Doctor drink a bit and rinse his mouth and then set the glass on the nightstand. 

"It’s okay, you’re safe now." She said in a whisper and he nodded, his eyes already closing on their own. Brushing his hair out of his face, River bent down to place a kiss on his forehead. When she straightened up, he was fast asleep.

Amy looked at her with an alarmed look, not understanding why the Doctor was suddenly asleep. "River, what…"

"It’s alright, mum. The…thing that happened to him has weakened his metabolism and he has to recover, get his strength back. He may probably wake up in twenty-four hours." River said in a small voice, still eyeing his sleeping form.

"In a day?" Amy exclaimed.

River sighed but responded nonetheless, "Yes, his body went through a lot in so little of time. It can’t cope with activity just now so it put itself in a self induced sleep." She cast a glance at her mother who seemed to be even more worried by the explanation. "Don’t worry, it’s for the best."

Amy nodded and watched the Doctor as he slept, his chest was rising with every breath he took and, in a way, it reassured her. She cast a glance at her daughter to see her watching the Doctor with a worried frown. River sighed and stood up, going to the closet.

"River, what happened to him?" Amy asked her daughter while the latter rummaged through piles of clothes.

Looking inside the closet, River shook her head slightly. "He was being a bloody moron, that’s what happened." River said dryly, still not looking at her mother. She took a pyjama t-shirt and put it on the bed next to the Doctor, her eyes still averting her mother gaze. She sighed and turned her attention to Rory who was still in a corner of the room, watching their interaction. "Dad, can you bring us a wet cloth, preferably cold please."

Rory nodded and went out of the room to fetch the cloth.

"What do you mean?" Amy asked. Then, she shook her head. "It was his fault, wasn’t it?" Of course it would be his own fault that he was in a state like that, it was the Doctor after all.

"Of course it was his fault." River uttered in a calm voice but nonetheless threw the pyjama pants unto the bed with more force than needed. "I know what happened and I know he got bloody careless." Her voice broke and she sighed, taking a intake of breath to calm her nerves. "I’m sure he went to the planet of the carnivorous plants and got bitten by one." She passed a hand over her face. "Look, the plants there, they bit you and in an hour your blood begins to coagulate and then it becomes solid." She bit her lips to stop the wave of emotions coming. "We should be grateful that he has two hearts which slowed the process."

Amy went wide eyed, listening to her daughter’s explanations. This explained a lot of what have been going on. She saw her daughter bottom lip quiver before she talked again.

"He could have died!" River let out a small whimper and sniffed to try to keep her composure. "What if I wasn’t there to help him, what if we arrived too late?" Her eyes reddened and Amy saw tears prickling at the corner of her eyes. "If we hadn’t been here, he would have died and I don’t think I would’ve been able to cope with that."

River removed with the back of her hand a single tears that escaped her eye and had fallen on her cheek. Amy came to engulf her daughter in a tight hug, she began to rub her back. "River, darling, he’s alright now, everything’s fine. He will be okay." After a moment she felt her daughter’s shoulders beginning to shake as River let out a sob.

River shook her head in the crook of her mother’s neck, "He’s far from okay mum," She said between sob, "He still has to recover from this and then he might be sick." 

Amy frowned and held River at shoulder length. The latter removed the tears from her cheeks and tried to compose herself. "What do you mean he might be sick?" She asked her daughter, not understanding what could be worse than what just happened.

"Well," River began. "The carnivorous plants are made to be the perfect killers, they can’t let someone live on their planet other than them for long." She sniffed and Amy squeezed her shoulder. "So, when they bite you they make sure to inject a sort of virus, just to…finish you."

Amy gasped in horror and she cast a glance at the Doctor who was peacefully sleeping. "What sort of virus?" She uttered in a small voice.

"From what I remember of my studies on it, it gives you a virus similar to the flu." At her mother’s wide eyes, she added, "But it acts as a side effect to the coagulating blood once the victim is weak enough. Fortunately, we succeeded to  remove the initial phase from the Doctor, but still… And don’t worry it’s not contagious."

"But he’s going to get through it, eh?" Amy asked and River nodded.

"Yes, now that the first phase of the…illness has been controlled, it will just appear to him has a normal flu, when he wakes up he may be sick for a few days but I know he’s going to get through it. He has to." She finished, her eyes looking at the floor.

A small cough broke the moment and River looked up to see Rory in the doorway, holding a cloth in his hand. She smiled at him and took the cloth from his hands, going at the Doctor’s bedside. She sat on the bed and then proceeded to remove the sweat on his forehead and cleaned the small wound on his chest that had made the medicine. Taking his right hand in her own, she examined it and found a small bite in crescent moon on his index. 

She looked at her mother and showed her the wound on his finger. "Look, there it is. I was right, he’s a moron." 

A small laugh escaped Amy and Rory frowned between the two, not understanding. She waved a hand at him and told him that she would explain later. River cleaned the bite mark with the cloth and then proceeded to put a plaster she found in the nightstand on it. Caressing his hand in her own, she brought it to her lips to depose a small kiss in the palm of his hand.

"Right." River stood up from the bed after deposing the cloth on the nightstand. "Better put him in his pyjama if he’s going to sleep the whole day." She took the t-shirt from its place on the bed. "Mum, can you help me remove his shoes?"

Amy came near her and began to unlace the Doctor’s shoes, deposing them at the foot of the bed.

Rory coughed and averted his eyes from them, looking at the ceiling. "Well, I’ll just be…" He trailed off pointing to the door. "Making tea." And with that, he went out of the room and down the stairs. 

The girls chuckled at his embarrassment. River lifted the upper half of the Doctor to put his shirt on. "Urgh, he’s bloody heavy when he’s a deadweight." She groaned. She then proceeded to unbutton his trousers and removed it the best she could, meaning with great difficulty. "You’re easier to strip down when you’re awake." She muttered to herself.

Her mother snorted beside her and she turned her head to see her with a raised eyebrow, not having realised she said that out loud. A blush crept to her cheeks, "Oh, shut up."

Amy held up her hands in the air, "I didn’t say anything. You did."

"Yes, well, I didn’t mean to." River muttered, taking the pyjama pants and putting it on the Doctor. Amy began to chuckle beside her even more. "Shush, you." River slapped Amy on the arm playfully.

"Oi!" Her mother backed away, trying to avoid the slap. "At least I didn’t comment on his choice of boxer." She said, nodding towards it.

River cast a glance at his boxer, he was wearing the purple one with patterns of platypus. Okay, not his best choice but he couldn’t have known he was going to be stripped down while asleep. In his parents-in-law’s house. At least Rory wasn’t there to witness this, embarrassment from the Doctor and Rory was prevented and River thought it was the best thing for now.

Shaking her head at her mother silliness, River finished to dress the Doctor in his pyjama bottom, which wasn’t better in terms of fashion. It had girafe patterns on it. Plus, it had been a gift from Amy. 

Once River finished dressing him, she, with the help of Amy, put him under the covers and gently placed the duvet under his chin. Checking his temperature with her hand, she figured he would be fine for now. Sitting once again at the edge of the bed, she watched her boyfriend sleep. 

"It’s funny how," Amy spoke up, coming to sit on the other side of the bed, "When he’s sleeping he looks so young, so naive. Like if he wasn’t the Doctor anymore but just a normal bloke." 

River hummed in agreement and stroked his arm through the duvet, he looked so peaceful. Clearing her throat, she said, "Come on, we’ll let him sleep in peace."

She bent down to kiss his eyelid tenderly and stood up, her mother raised from the bed too. She went to the window to close it and then went out of the room, closing the door but not before looking at him one last time.

They descended the stairs in silence and went to find Rory in the kitchen, he had just finished making tea. He offered a cup for each of them and they thanked him, coming to sit on the stools at the table. Together, they drank their tea in silence.

River passed a hand over her face and rubbed her temple. "I…" She cleared her throat as her parents turned their attention to her. "I think I’m going to stay there. While he recovers." She cast a glance at them, a frown forming of her forehead. "I mean, if it’s no bother."

Amy spoke up by her side, rubbing her back. "Of course, you can stay there for as long as you want to. Even if you’re at Luna right now, it’s still your house." A smile formed on her lips and Rory hummed in agreement in front of her.

"Thanks, mum." River smiled at them.

"So," Amy exclaimed. "River, tell us about school. How is it going?"

"Great," Her daughter smiled into her mug. She then looked at them to be meet with fond smiles. "It’s going fine. And well, in two months I’ll have the final exams so quite stressful at the moment, but eh." She shrugged. "And even if it’s not in the best circumstances, it’s still good to have a break from studies at the moment."

"It’s so great, my daughter is going to graduate!" Amy cried out, excited by the perspective. "Isn’t it great Rory?"

He nodded in agreement, a full smile covering his face. "Oh yeah, you might even become a doctor before I do." He winked at her and they both laughed.

"Oh God, no I don’t think. I’m just finishing uni but I have so many other things to do before really becoming a doctor. Plus, it’s a different kind of doctor so hush." She chuckled and shoved his shoulder playfully. 

Rory laughed heartily and after the laugher died down he clasped his hands together, "So, who’s for lunch?" As the girls responded positively he stood up from the stool and opened the fridge to look at what he could cook. Frowning for a moment, he closed to fridge’s door and exclaimed. "Change of plans, who’s up for pizza?"

A new round of laugher rose in the kitchen.

—

The day passed fairly quickly for the Pond family. Amy caught up with River and they chatted for most of the afternoon, it had been more than two month since they last saw each other and it was always good for River to come back to her parents and chat for a little while about their lives. Even if River saw the Doctor nearly everyday, it had been a long time since they had had a trip on the TARDIS with her parents. That’s why they promised that once the Doctor had fully recovered they would go on a family trip, maybe a beach, they didn’t know yet.

At one time in the afternoon, the women went to help Rory who has resumed clearing away his winter clothes. It was a fun time with loud rounds of laugher every now and then.

River went to check on the Doctor every few hours during the day and every time she found him fast asleep. She sat for a few minutes, watching his chest rise at every breath. Brushing his hair out of his face, she smiled as he snuggled further into the bed, a content smile adorning his face. River lay down beside him on top of the cover, putting her arm around his frame and snuggling her face in the crook of his shoulder. She placed her hand over his heart to feel it beating underneath his shirt, in a way it reassured her. All the tension she had accumulated today was slowly evaporating, feeling him breathe beside her soothed her.

After retreating from the bedroom, River found her parents in the living room and sat with them. They ate dinner and then in the late hours of the night everyone went to sleep. River fell asleep, her arms around the Doctor, and dreamt that in the morning the Doctor would be alright and everything would be fine.

—

River was awoken by the light of the sun traversing the curtains and laying its rays on the bed. She laid on the bed, her eyes still closed, for some minutes more. Stretching her limbs adorably and brushing some curls out of her face, she opened her eyes groggily. 

The first thing she saw was the form of the Doctor on his side, the sun on his back making him look like an angel with an aura surrounding him. Squinting her eyes a bit, she noticed that the Doctor had his eyes open and he was looking at her. A smile appeared on his face when she looked at him.

"Hey." She only whispered, snuggling closer to him as she put her arm around his torso. Placing her face in the crook of his neck, she sighed contently.

"Hey." He replied in a murmur but was stopped by a coughing fit. River retreated from her position in his arms and looked at him with a frown. The Doctor turned on his back and groaned after the coughing fit had stopped, taking the duvet and placing it just under his chin to keep himself warm.

River propped herself on one elbow and placed her hand over his forehead. He was quite hot. "How are you feeling?" She asked with concern in her voice.

The Doctor grimaced, "Weird." River frowned at him. "My head hurts and I’m cold." He said, a shiver running through him as he snuggled more into the duvet. "I’m tired but I don’t know how long I’ve slept."

River half-smiled, combing his fringe out of his face. "You’re sick, sweetie. It’s quite normal to feel that way."

He frowned, "But I don’t remember being sick when I went to bed and actually I don’t remember going to bed. And now that we talk about it I don’t remember coming to your parents’ house either." His frown deepened. 

"I’ll explain everything to you in a minute, but first I’m going to fetch you some medicine for your head." After hesitating, the Doctor nodded and River smiled, bending down to place a kiss on his forehead. "Don’t move." 

She went out of the bed and out of their room, going in the hall and down the stairs. Arriving in the kitchen, she saw her father eating his breakfast. He smiled when he saw her and she did the same, coming to him to kiss him good morning on the cheek. She then when to fetch a glass and searched in the cupboards for suitable medicine for the Doctor.

"How is he?" Rory asked, having guessed that the medicine wasn’t for River but for the Doctor who surely should be awake by now.

"Well, he’s sick." River grimaced. "But that was to be expected." Filling the glass of water, she asked, "Where’s mum?"

"In the shower." Rory said. "But apart from that, is he okay?"

Understanding his meaning, she nodded and took the glass and the pills. "I’m just going to go back to him and tell him everything that happened because he doesn’t remember a thing."

River made her way out of the kitchen and up the stairs, coming back into her bedroom. The Doctor was still lying in bed when she went back, he turned his face to her when he heard the door cracking open. He sat up and took the glass she gave him and the pills, drinking it. After she deposed the glass on the nightstand, she lay down on the bed and curled into him.

"So," The Doctor began, "What happened to me?" He felt River sigh beside him. Finally after some seconds she turned her head in his direction and took his right hand. Placing it between them, she showed him his index finger which was wrapped in a plaster. A frown appeared on his face as he examined the wound. "What is this?"

"It’s a bite from a carnivorous plant," She said trailing off but he was still frowning and didn’t understand why it had to do with his current situation. River sighed, "From the planet Occisor Naturae. That rings any bell." She finished more dryly.

The Doctor frowned for a moment but then realisation dawned upon him. He opened his mouth to speak, to say something but nothing came out. He glanced at River to see her already looking at him, her eyes getting wet. "I…" He uttered. "I’m…" He knew all about this dangerous planet and that’s why he decided to take a trip to it, to visit it. He hadn’t even realised he had been bitten by one of the plant. Swallowing loudly, he managed to utter, "I’m so sorry, River."

She shook her head as a wave of emotion was trying to engulf her. "You have no idea how scared we were." A hiccup stopped her as tears began to pool at the bottom of her eyes. "It’s a lucky thing the TARDIS was able to fly you over there in no time and it’s a lucky thing that my parents thought about calling me to help you, because if not you would be dead!" A sob caught in her throat and she curled into him once more, clinging to his t-shirt.

He didn’t know what to say so he just let her hold him and rubbed her back as her tears soaked his shirt. He had been careless and he knew that, if he could he would go back in time and stop this from happening but he couldn’t and now he had to assume the consequences of his carelessness.

"It’s okay, I’m here." He whispered, caressing her back in circular motion. "Please River forgive me, I would say I’m sorry a thousand times if you would just forgive me of my stubbornness and carelessness."

River lifted her head from his shirt, tear tracks on her cheeks. She placed a hand on his cheek and caressed it with her thumb. "Of course I forgive you, but do you know how scared I was? I thought I was going to lose you and I can’t, I can’t…" She said between sobs, "I can’t, I love you too much."

"I love you too, and I’m so sorry that I put you in this situation. I swear, if I could got back in time and avoid this I would." He whispered, his voice catching in his throat.

Pulling River closer to him, he placed his chin on top of her head as her tears began to cease. The headache was becoming less and less painful but he still felt sick. It was the price to pay, he told himself. And still, it was only the beginning of the flu, it would increase along the days. But he was ready to pay this price, just because he had brought tears to River’s beautiful eyes. The one at fault here was him and he blamed himself so much for making River cry.

He placed tiny kisses in the crown of her head as she regained her composure. She tilted her head upward to meet his lips and they shared a kiss.

The Doctor broke the kiss after a moment, "I don’t think kissing you in my state is a good idea." He spoke up and felt his heart jump out of his ribcage as he saw a small smile gracing River’s lips.

"Don’t worry, it’s not contagious. I can’t have it. Plus I’m immune to the flu, it’s one of the good point of being in Luna, they force you to be vaccinated for a lot of stuff." She said looking into his eyes.

"So that’s what I have, the flu." The Doctor said, running his thumb over her cheeks to remove the redness there.

River nodded slowly. "Yes, so be prepared to be tired, cold and achy for a couple of days." The Doctor groaned and River couldn’t help but smile at him. After remembering something, she spoke up, "I’m going to stay with you, in here, and that means you stay here at my parents’ house. No trip to outer space in the TARDIS or god knows where until you’ve recovered, okay?"

Gruntingly, he nodded. "But River you can’t stay there for a whole couple of days. You told me you had your exams in less than two months an-"

She placed a finger over his lips, "For the moment, the most important thing is your health. And, you know, I can always skip a week and come back the instant I left."

The Doctor smiled at that. "Well, okay then. Me, in the house of my best friends, with my girl. While sick." He grimaced at the last note and River chuckled beside him. "I think I can cope with that."

Proceeding to cover them both in the duvet, the Doctor snuggled closer to River. She provided a good heat source while he felt so cold. Taking his hand in her own, River closed her eyes and put her bare leg between his clothed ones.

"Urgh, you’re making me cold with your lack of trousers." The Doctor mumbled in the pillow.

River snorted, "I am wearing a short, darling."

"Really?" He asked on an exaggerated tone. Dropping his hand to her backside, he felt the the smooth fabric of her pyjama bottom. "And here I thought you were going for nude." He chuckled and squeezed her ass. His chuckle turned into a cough and River snorted once more.

"Serves you right." River grinned and lifted her face to be at eye level. She saw the Doctor, his face half hidden by the pillow and his eyes slightly open, a smirk gracing his lip. "Well, I wasn’t going to tell you but yesterday we had to strip you down to your boxer and mum got a very full view of it." His slightly open eyes grew wide at her declaration. River saw the redness rising up his face and it wasn’t because of the illness. Teasing him, she added, "The platypus one I’m afraid."

His mouth opened in pure shock and embarrassment while River snickered at his side. This was actually mortifying. "Why did _she_ have to strip me down, eh?"

"She didn’t, I did. But she helped me to put you in bed. If you want to know she just removed your shoes." River said on a playful tone.

"Oh, because that makes me feel so much better. And you know, even if I like your mother very much I think some things should remain private." He sulked, rubbing his face in the pillow. "How am I going to be able to look her in the eyes now?"

River rolled her eyes, "Oh, come on. It’s not as if it was the first time she saw you in your underwear. Don’t you think she didn’t told me about the time you stripped down in front of her and Rory the first time you met."

He groaned at the remark, "But it wasn’t the platypus one."

River laughed and placed her arm around his waist, snuggling in the crook of his neck. "Don’t worry, I’m very fond of it."

"I know, it’s very cool." He commented and River hummed, quite not believing that the word 'cool' was the perfect one to describe his choice of boxers.

They remained in bed for some minutes more, relaxing in each other’s arms. River stroked his arm to get his attention, "Come on, let’s get up. I’m sure mum and dad will be happy to hear that you’re okay." She straightened from her laying position to a sitting one, the duvet falling off her chest.

The Doctor groaned at the lack of warmth from River but sat up nonetheless. He winced at the pain in his head caused by the sudden movement. Passing his hand through his hair, he yawned and shivered from the cold in the room.

River, who had gone out of bed, handed him an old sweater for him to put on and keep him warm. Thanking her, he stood up from the bed and massaged his achy neck.

They made their way down the stairs and into the kitchen where the voices of Amy and Rory could be heard. Opening the door, River smiled at her parents and they smiled back. When Amy saw the Doctor behind River she gasped and ran to him, engulfing him in a tight hug. 

He was taken aback by the gesture but still held her in his arms, smiling. Amy drew back and held him at shoulder length. "Are you alright? Are you better now?" She said hastily.

"Yes, Pond." He said while nodding. He glanced at Rory behind Amy’s shoulder and gave him a salute. "I’m totally fine, albeit a bit sick but eh, can’t always be perfect, can’t I?" He laughed and Amy chuckled with him. 

"Well, that’s great to see you back to normal." The Doctor nodded happily at Amy’s words but two seconds later he sneezed. Amy chuckled at him, "Even if you’re sick."

—

During the day, the Doctor took possession of a blanket that he kept on his shoulder for the most part of it. He wasn’t that sick and could still move around the house and do some things, but the major problem was that he didn’t know what to do and he was pleased to tell River so any minute of the day. At one point, she succeeded to make him watch the TV for an hour or two but in the end he always came back bored. That was the bad part of being sick, wanting to do something but not being able to. And since he was forbidden to go on the TARDIS, the Doctor stayed at the Pond house, wandering around the house. 

At some point in the afternoon he took a nap because he was tired of doing nothing, waking up an hour after he felt more sick than he was this morning with a stuffy nose and a headache forming in his head. 

In the evening, River convinced him to take a long bath to relax his muscle and warm him up. This day River learnt something new about the Doctor, he wasn’t easy to live with when he was sick. And then she remember that it was the Doctor and that he was never easy to live with, she chuckled to herself.

The Doctor came back from the bath an hour later, his hair still slightly wet and sticking out in every direction. He came to the living room where he knew the Pond family was. His blanket still around his shoulders, he promptly dropped on the sofa between River and Amy and wiggled a bit to be more comfortable.

Amy sighed and moved a bit on the side to make room for the big baby that just crushed her feet. "A little warning here." She said, glaring a him through her locks of red hair. The only response she received was a hum from him. Casting a glance at her daughter, she got a tight smile of compassion and a shrug.

The Doctor placed his head on River’s shoulder and snuggled into his blanket, seeking as much warmth as he could. River brushed his unruly hair out of his face and murmured, "How are you feeling?"

She receive a non-committal grunt from the Doctor. Wanting a bit more information about his current health, she reiterated her question.

The Doctor grimaced, "Cold and uhm," He sniffed, "My head hurts a bit."

River pursed her lips, "Well, I’m sorry we can’t do anything about it right now." Rubbing his arm, she continued. "You want to watch TV with us? There’s just a movie which is going to begin."

He nodded slowly on her shoulder and she smiled, placing a kiss on his forehead. She took the opportunity to check his fever and found him to be hotter than before.

Two minutes later, Rory came into the room holding in his hands a bowl of pop corn. "Here we are, a full bowl of p-" He stopped mid-sentence, seeing the Doctor on the sofa. "Oi, you took my seat." At the puppy dog eyes he received from the Doctor, he sighed. "Okay, I get it, I’ll take the armchair." Sitting on it he muttered, "Why is it always me who takes the armchair?"

Amy snickered, "Because you’re the man."

"That’s not even a good argument and he’s a man too, why doesn’t he get on the chair too?" Rory replied, mildly amused.

Amy gasped in faux-shock and placed her arms around the Doctor’s shoulders in an overdramatic manner, like a mother covering her child. "But he’s sick, you wouldn’t want him to be in a rusty old armchair, would you?"

Rory rolled his eyes at his wife, "But even when he’s not sick he takes the spot, I don’t think it’s fair, that’s all." Amy shot him a grimace and River laughed beside them. The Doctor watched the interaction before his eyes taking place but didn’t say anything, a small smile covered his face.

The bickering died down as the movie began and everybody watched it in silence, sometimes broken by the Doctor sniffing or blowing his nose once or twice. Through the middle of the movie, River began to feel the Doctor dropping off on her shoulder. She glanced at him and saw his eyes closing at times, his nose was red and so were his eyes as he fought a inner war to try and keep them open.

She nudged him a bit and his eyes flew open, looking in her direction with a frown. Whispering in his ear, she said, "You should go to sleep." He groaned a bit but nodded, nuzzling further into her shoulder. She caressed his hair, "Well, come on then. You’re practically already sleeping on me." She said, nudging him a bit more.

"Okay." He mumbled, straightening up and passing a hand over his face. 

River pressed a kiss over his cheek, "Goodnight, my love. I’ll join you in no time." The Doctor nodded and stood up, rearranging the blanket around his shoulders. He threw a small 'night' at the Ponds and heard them respond to him while he padded down the hallway and up the stairs to his bedroom.

When River joined him an hour later, he was fast asleep under the duvet and snored a bit because of his stuffy nose. His back was to her so she couldn’t see his face but if she did she was sure how she would find him, his mouth slightly ajar and drooling just a smidge.

Snuggling into him, River fell asleep with the warmth of the Doctor’s back against her.

—

When she woke up in the morning, the sun had already set in the sky and was faintly illuminating the room through the curtains. Turning on her side, she looked at the Doctor who had his back to her. Propping herself on a elbow, she softly stroked his arm and discovered that he was actually awake.

"How are you feeling this morning, sweetie?" She asked him but he didn’t respond and after a moment he shrugged. A frown forming on her face, River placed her hand over his forehead to feel his temperature. She found him to be quite hot.

He sniffed and groaned afterwards, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the edge of the mattress. River’s frown deepened and she rose from the bed, coming to his side and kneeling in front of him. He had his eyes closed and his nose was red, probably because of all the tissues laying on the nightstand. His lips were in a thin line as he appeared to be concentrating on something.

Smoothing his fringe on the side, River watched the Doctor with a worried look on her face. "What’s going on?" 

The Doctor opened his eyes a bit before closing them again, he shrugged once more. River sighed, not getting any information from him worried her.

She tried again, "Is your head hurting?" Slowly, he nodded. "Okay, I’ll get something for that. Is there something else hurting?" After a moment he nodded again. River’s frown returned as she tried to find what was wrong with the Doctor. "Is your tummy hurting?" He nodded once more. Sighing, she brushed his hair and bent to kiss his forehead. "I’ll be right back."

Standing up, River made her way out of the room and downstairs. She found her mother in the kitchen, Rory must have already gone to work so she couldn’t have extra help on medical support. Greeting her mother briefly, she went to the cabinet where she knew the pills would be and quickly filled a glass with water.

"I don’t think the Doctor will go down today." She announced turning to Amy. The latter looked up from her tea and frowned at her. "He’s quite bad today, I think."

"Poor thing." Amy said, empathising. 

Together they shared a comprehensive look and River made her way up, only posing for a moment to take a bucket from the bathroom. She entered the bedroom to find the Doctor in the same position as when she left him minutes ago. Coming to his side of the bed, she kneeled to be at eye level.

She stroked his arm for him to open his eyes and as he did so she showed him the pills. "Come on, sit up to take the pills. You’ll feel much better afterwards."

Sitting up with difficulty, the Doctor groaned as he leaned on the headboard. He took the pills River offered him and popped them in his mouth, taking a sip of water.

"Thanks." He said after deposing the glass on the nightstand. His voice was hoarse and he cleared his throat, ending up coughing.

Deciding to resume his laying position, he lowered himself on the mattress and drew the covers back under his chin.

River stood up and came to sit on the edge of the bed. She placed the bucket just at the foot of the bed. "This is if you need it." The Doctor nodded faintly as he closed his eyes. "Stay in bed today if you want to, I’ll be downstairs with Amy if you need me."

He nodded again and she stood up, going to the door and softly closed it behind her. It was the first time that River saw the Doctor sick, he had told her once that he rarely got sick because of his Time Lord metabolism. But like everybody else he had to be sick at least once in his life. But the thing was that he didn’t seem to be handling it very well. He didn’t know what was normal when one’s was sick and what was not. 

River laughed to herself while she descended the stairs. On one hand, it was quite funny to see the Doctor acting like a little baby but on the other hand she worried about him and his health. She didn’t really know how to handle someone who was sick since she didn’t get sick often herself.

But in the end she knew the Doctor would get back on his feet in no time. It reassured her a little, because, in the meantime, she didn’t like to see the Doctor in pain.

Going back to the kitchen, she decided to make herself a cup of tea and joined her mother at the table.

—

"You can’t leave me alone. I…I don’t know what to do." River exclaimed following her mother through the hall while the latter searched for a pair of shoes. "What if anything happen, or…or…or I don’t know, something."

Amy sighed and directed her attention to her daughter who was currently looking at her with pleading eyes. "Honey, I need to run some errants, I’ll be back in less than an hour." Dropping the single shoe she had in her hand, she walked towards River with a confident smile. "It’s not like it’s the first time I leave the house while the two of you are in there. I trust you with it."

Her brows furrowed, River passed a hand through her hair. "That’s not the problem, the problem is that I don’t know how to take care of the Doctor while he’s sick. What if something wrong happens, you won’t be there to help me." 

"Well, you seemed to be doing just fine without our help." Amy said with a smile and River dropped her gaze to the floor. She placed her finger under her daughter’s chin to make her look at her her. "What you’re lacking of is not the keys to help him but a only a little bit of confidence. Have a little faith in yourself." 

River pondered the thought for a moment before meeting her mother’s eyes. "But what if he calls for you because I’m doing a terrible job?"

Amy actually snorted at River’s questioning. "He won’t. Because unlike you, he has a fat load of trust for you and he knows you will be doing the best things for him." She turned around and crouched down in search of a pair of decent shoes. "And in all the time that you two have been together I know how much he trusts you and how much you trust him as well." She shot a meaningful glance at her daughter who nodded. A shout of triumph resonated through the hall as Amy finally found matching shoes under the console.

"You’re right." River said, leaning on the railing of the stairs. "Come on, go out, buy soup for him and you’ll see, when you’ll come back we’ll be both perfectly fine."

Her mother shot her a smile from the doorway, "I knew I could count on you." River waved a hand as Amy closed the door behind her.

Sighing, River made her way upstairs and into her room where the Doctor was resting. She creaked the door open slowly so as not to wake him up. Peaking inside, she saw that the Doctor was currently awake and his eyes met hers when she made her presence known.

He was lying on his side and River came to him, sitting on the edge of the bed. Placing her hand on his forehead, she realised that his temperature must have dropped since it wasn’t as hot as before. "How are you feeling?"

"Better now that you’re here." He responded in a whisper. River raised an eyebrow, he didn’t seem that sick now that he was making awful jokes. 

She lay next to him, on top of the covers, and watched him for any clues of pain. He didn’t seemed to be in much pain anymore. This reassured her since she didn’t know what else she could have done if the medicine hadn’t had worked on him.

The Doctor stretched his hand to take hers in it and drew some lazy lines on it. "It’s true, what your mother said. I do trust you, with all my hearts." He met her eyes and River frowned in return.

"Has somebody ever told you not to eavesdrop on conversations of others?" River said with a hint of smugness in her voice. The Doctor smiled for the first time this day and it filled River’s hearts with joy.

"Oh, my girlfriend always does. But you two were talking quite loud and it was the only sound in the house, quite difficult to avoid eavesdropping when that’s the only interesting thing to do." He said, amused by his own reflection.

River rolled her eyes and brought her hand to his face to brush the lock of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes. "I’m glad you’re feeling well." The Doctor pushed his face further into his pillow, quite content of River taking care of him in such a good way. "Go back to sleep and when you’ll wake up you’ll feel even better."

Nodding slowly, the Doctor closed his eyes and felt the bed creak as River went out of it. He felt her hand brushing his hair before she dropped a kiss on his forehead. She lingered a moment and then stood up, making her way out of the room, slowly closing the door behind her.

_—_

The day passed fairly quickly for the Pond family. When dinner time came, the Doctor felt better enough to go down and eat with the two women in the house. Rory was doing night shifts at the hospital and thus came back at the house in the wee hours of the night, it wasn’t always easy since Rory always was at the hospital. But someone had to provide some money to the Pond family since Amy wasn’t able to settle too long for a job. Plus, they had refused the Doctor to help them for any financial need, he had already bought them a house and a car, this was far too much already.

With his legendary blanket still secured around his shoulder, the Doctor dropped on his chair at the dining table. River placed in front of him a bowl of soup and she sat by his side, a plate of mashed potatoes with a a steak. Furrowing his brows, he cast a glance at River to see what he’s done to deserve a rubbish soup, chicken noodle soup even more.

When River caught his pleading gaze, she sighed, "This is for you to get better." The Doctor raised an eyebrow and registered Amy sitting in front of him. The latter gave a spoon to River, who thanked her and held it in his direction. "And you will eat it."

The Doctor eyed the spoon with disdain before surrendering and taking it in his hand. "Great, because I love it…" He said under his breath ironically. Supporting his head with his palm, he used his other hand to stir the soup.

River and Amy shared a look as the Doctor seemed to be enjoying being the petulant child at the table. The sound of the Doctor stirring his soup was getting on their nerves and Amy sighed, dropping her fork. "Remind me to add this on the list of his most annoying personality traits : Is a petulant child when sick and, in brackets, loves to get on your nerves." 

River snorted and the Doctor raised his head from his bowl of soup. "You have a list of my personality traits?" He had stopped stirring his soup and was now watching the two women attentively. When none responded, he focused his gaze on River by his side. She only shrugged and resumed eating. Left agape, he directed his gaze to Amy for further informations. The latter rolled her eyes as if it wasn’t a big deal.

"Oh, come on." She said, exasperated. "Only the most annoying ones." This left the Doctor even more agape. How could they gang up on his in such a way, he felt betrayed. 

Jutting his chin up, he decided sulking was the better way to deal with this. Those two would blame themselves for what they had done to him and he was determined to make them pay with the silent treatment. He knew this always worked on him anyway, he always felt bad when River gave him the silent treatment. 

After a moment, curiosity got the better of him. "And what does it says?" This didn’t mean he wasn’t sulking anymore, this just meant he was talking while sulking, that existed. He knew that it existed. 

A small smile began to grace Amy’s lips and she set her elbows on the table, her chin resting on her palms. "Oh, you know, things like ‘Sulks when annoyed’, ‘Overjoyed when in danger’, ‘Out of control when on sugar high’. Do you want me to get going? Oh! I could get the list from upstairs and then we could settle over the fireplace and read it till the wee hours of the morning."

The Doctor squinted his eyes at Amy while River was currently hiding her laughter behind a coughing fit. The look Amy was giving him didn’t reveal if she was telling the truth of not. He thought for a moment before speaking, "We don’t have a fireplace…" He gasped and retreated in his seat, securing the blanket around his frame with a scornful gesture. "You lied, it’s not true!" 

He shot a glare in Amy’s direction, the woman had bursted out laughing and was currently giggling like a schoolgirl in her chair. Glancing at River, he gave her a sad look for having been mocked by her mother. River shot him a small smile and dropped her hand to his thigh, meaning it was just a joke and wasn’t meant to be hurtful.

He crossed his arms over his chest, deciding to sulk a little bit more but then he remember what Amy had just said about him sulking and he dropped his hand, his chin jutting up. When Amy laughed even more, he groaned, "I’m telling Rory."

"Oh, come on. Don’t be such a baby." Amy said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, it was River’s idea." Hearing her name been spoken, River gasped and raised her head, throwing a glare at her mother. 

The Doctor turned his eyes to River, his mouth agape, not believing his ears. "How could’ve you!? You’re my girlfriend, you can’t do things like that." River shot a death glare in her mother’s direction before settling her eyes on the Doctor.

"Woah, I didn’t do anything, okay. This is just my mum…" She said, emphasising her point by throwing a glare in her direction. "Trying to rile you up." The Doctor frowned between the two, not knowing which one to believe. River gave him a pointed look a squeezed his thigh since her hand was still resting there. 

He held her gaze for a moment before nodding and reverting his gaze to his bowl of soup. "I’m still telling Rory." He muttered under his breath. River rolled her eyes and patted his thigh before resuming her eating. The Doctor began to stir his soup again and when Amy shot him a glare he brought his spoon to his mouth. The taste was horrid and he made disgusted noise as the liquid got in contact with his mouth.

River dropped her fork and glanced a him, beginning to get irritated. "What is it now?"

He glanced at her, a sheepish look on his face. "It’s cold." 

River let out an exasperated groan. "Well, of course it’s cold. You’ve been stirring it for a whole ten minutes." She got up and took his bowl, going to the microwave to reheat it. "Don’t you understand the principle of ventilation? Tell me, does being sick make you lose the whole part of your brain which is about physics or something?" 

The Doctor dropped his head and looked at his wrung hands. He said nothing and when River came back to replace his bowl in front of his eyes he whispered a small thanks. 

River eyed him as he began to eat his soup without complaining, his eyes set to his bowl. She sighed and squeezed his thigh. "Sorry, I know you’re not feeling well and I shouldn’t have said that." He looked up from his soup and met her eyes. She gave him a small smile and he did the same in return. 

When the Doctor finished eating, Amy decided it would be great for them to watch a movie this evening and the pair in front of her agreed. The two girls stood up and cleared the dishes, putting them in the dishwasher. The Doctor looked at them, he was feeling a bit tired after the social interaction he had tonight and the two girls knew better than to let him help them with the dishes and break some in the process. 

The Doctor watched River as she prepared tea for the night and when she met his gaze he smiled tiredly. She smiled back and blew him a kiss before turning back to search for something in the cupboard.

—

River settled on the couch in the living room, the remote of the television in her hand. “Do you want to watch something in particular?” She asked the Doctor when he entered the living room, his blanked still secured around his shoulders and with now a cup of tea warming his hands.

He sat next to her with a bit of difficulty, mostly because he knew Amy wouldn’t like him to ruin her couch with tea. He pondered the thought for a second, his face stuck in his mug for the warmth it brought, and then looked at River with pleading eyes. “The Lion King.”

River rolled her eyes at him. “Something else than the Lion King, sweetie.” It’s not that she didn’t like this movie but they had watched it so many times already and it was getting a bit on her nerves. Like a child, the Doctor liked to watch his favourite movie a hundred times before saying it was enough. Even more when he was sick. 

Well, that was one of the hidden particularity of the Doctor, he liked Disney movies. He adored them, even. That would not be a good thing for his pride if one of his foe discovered this particularity of his. River had a distant image of the Doctor fighting off a Dalek with lines of Disney movies. Well, it had worked before. She snorted to herself.

The Doctor took a sip of his tea and shrugged, letting her know that he didn’t care for the choice of movie, as long as it was interesting. Today had been a tiring day for the Doctor and he feared he would not be able to stay awake for long. The sun has long been replaced by the moon and for the Doctor it screamed nighttime. But he was feeling better than this morning and wanted to spend as much time as possible with his family, even if he felt quite hot and achy. 

Disposing of his now empty mug on the coffee table, he secured his blanket around his frame and dropped his head on River’s shoulder. His eyes were already beginning to ache and he felt them growing heavier by the minute. Nonetheless, he watched River go through the different channel, stopping every now and then to see if the movie was worth the watch. When, finally she found an interesting enough movie, she dropped the remote on the coffee table and settled on the couch. She placed her arm around the Doctor’s frame who snuggled further into her, seeking a bit of warmth. River dropped a kiss on his forehead to check his temperature, he was still quite hot but seemed to feel better now.

Amy entered the room with a cup of tea in her hand and came to sit on the armchair near the television. She tucked her feet under her and peeked at the TV before casting a glance at her daughter and the Doctor. “So, which movie is this?” She asked River who shrugged and murmured something about wizards and dwarves. Amy made an impressed face, turning her gaze to the television and mumbled under her breath, “Interesting…”

The Doctor fought the urge to close his eyes every now and then and called himself successful when he managed to do so for more than ten minutes. But at one point, the need to close his eyes overcame him and he gave in. The distant sound of the TV and the not so distant sound of River’s breathing lulled him to sleep. 

The sensation of falling woke him up some time later. Feeling a bit disoriented, he looked around him with bleary eyes. He registered River looking at him with a funny expression. Coming to his sense, he realised he must have slide off her shoulder while he slept and that’s why he felt so disoriented. Groaning, he resettled on her shoulder and felt her brush his hair out of his eyes. Suddenly, he didn’t feel fine anymore and just wanted to lay down. So, he did. 

River grinned to herself at the sight of the Doctor being a real baby. He lay down on the couch, his head on her lap and closed his eyes once more. River raised her head to met her mother’s eyes, they both had a gleam in the eyes, watching the Doctor in the purest of way, sleeping. He wiggled a bit on her lap and groaned, not finding a good position to sleep in. After wiggling for a minute or so, he decided to turn around and pressed his face into her stomach, the warmth and the comfort it brought was welcomed since he stopped moving.

River chuckled to herself and readjusted the blanket around his frame, since it was all wrung up under his body. Dropping her hand to his hair, she massaged his scalp and he made a small noise of contentment, already fast asleep.

The Doctor was, obviously, not aware of what he was doing since he was deep in slumber. He would never show this kind of intimate gesture if he were awake. Not in front of Amy and Rory, anyway. This was something funny about the Doctor, he was totally able to make fun of himself in front of everyone -most of the time it was by accident, though-, but he would never show himself snuggling like a baby into his girlfriend’s tummy in front of her parents.

Over the years, Amy and Rory had gotten accustomed to some kind of intimate gestures between the Doctor and River but they had also implemented some boundaries. Boundaries which the Doctor was very keen on respecting, to the great misfortune of River.

Amy eyed the pair from her position on the armchair and smiled. “See, I know you can take care of him. No matter what you say.” She said in a low voice so as not to wake the person sleeping in the room.

River glanced up at the sound of her mother’s voice. She had completely forgotten about her while she and the Doctor were in their little bubble. Glancing down at the Doctor gently snoring on her lap, she couldn’t help but blush a little. “Yeah…” She responded, passing her thumb over his cheek.

“Look at you, how you’ve grown.” Amy continued. River glanced up and met her mother’s eyes, a frown forming on her face. “You’ve changed so much since you were Mels. And yes, before you say anything, I know a personality can change when a person regenerate. But…” Amy appeared to be deep in thought, River said nothing and let her finish her thoughts. “But I don’t think this is a change in personality traits. No, I think this is an evolution...because of the Doctor.”

“What do you mean, mum?” River asked, not sure if she understood where her mother was taking her. Amy appeared to be deep inside her mind, knowing she would have to choose the right words to make her daughter understand the bottom of her thoughts. 

"As you’ve made the Doctor a better man since you met him, I think he has made you a better person too. The environment you live in changes the way you think and the way you act." River gazed at her mother, all the while saying nothing. She felt this was an important moment, this was Amy’s moment. She saw something pass over Amy’s eyes but before she knew, it was gone. "I think that if you’d had taken a different path when you had the chance at the Sisters after your regeneration, you would have turned out differently. And I’m saying this because I think that the path you took, the path we all took together was the right one. It made us all better, because we are all together and we are all on the same page. Linear."

River watched her mother with big eyes, the words were stuck in her throat and she felt the sudden urge to cry. “I...I don’t know what to say. I …” She swallowed the lump in her throat and glanced down the look at the Doctor who was peacefully sleeping, his hand clutching the hem of her t-shirt.

"Then don’t say anything, sweetheart." Her mother spoke up. "All I wanted to say is that you know how to take care of him because it’s in you. And I want you to know that this man, currently snoring on your lap, is the best man for you. He brings out the best in you and that’s the most important thing, I think. Your relationship with the Doctor, as is mine with your father, they are very rare relationship. Few people get to find the love of their life and be able to grow old with them. Cherish this thing you have in your arms because that’s the most beautiful thing, and the most important thing above all. It’s true love."

When Amy finished her speech, River was left agape. There were tears at the bottom of her eyes and her hearts constricted together as a wave of love overcame her. “Mommy…” She said in a whisper. Extending her hand for her mother to take, she squeezed it and brought it to her lips to depose a small kiss, pouring out her love without the need for words. “I will.” She said, at last. Dropping her eyes full of stars and tears to the Doctor’s form, she repeated herself. “I always will.”

That night, when River helped the Doctor get to bed while he groaned and complained all the way, she thought about what her mother had said earlier. It resonated inside her head like a melody to her heart and she finally understood. She hadn’t changed, she had just evolved the way she had been supposed to evolve, the dark side of her was long gone and replaced with love, kindness and most of all, hope. 

Her family brought up the best sides in her and those were the things she was capable of doing. Loving, laughing, caring, those were all the things that made River the River Song that everybody knew, the River Song that she was today.

Settling down on her bed, she wrapped her arms around the Doctor’s snoring figure and closed her eyes in the crook of his neck. His scent was all around her and she felt at bliss in his arms. After all, he was the one who saved her from her demons. The one capable of showing her the world through the eyes she had today. He was truly her guiding light. And now she understood, in helping her from her demons he had also helped himself from his own.

In the stillness of the night, she whispered at last, "I love you, my Doctor."

—

The Doctor watched the medicine slowly dissolving into his glass of water. His gaze was fixed on the water being mixed with the white powder. The sun was slowly rising in the sky and it illuminated the parquet on the kitchen floor with an orange glow. As the sun progressed through the sky and peeked through the trees hiding its rays, the shadows on the floor elongated to form long rays shaped in the form of the windows sill.

Raising his eyes from his glass, the Doctor peeked out the window, squinting his eyes at the sudden light. The TARDIS rested on the backyard, silent and untouched since the Doctor arrived four days ago. It was damaged and the Doctor could do nothing at the moment, he had promised River that he wouldn’t get back to it until he had fully recovered. But it was damaged, he knew it, he could feel it. He didn’t know yet how the TARDIS had had the strength to bring him to the Ponds’ house. One thing that was sure at the moment was that the TARDIS would need manual help to recover from this drain of energy. But for the moment, the Doctor had to take care of his own health. River wouldn’t like him to take other priorities, even if it was the TARDIS. 

Standing up, he rounded the table to search for a spoon in a drawer. The pain in his head made him stop and he leaned his weight on the worktop. Sighing, he passed a hand over his face and squeezed his eyes shut, a frown appearing on his forehead. 

After a moment, the Doctor dropped his hand to his jaw and scratched his stubble. Sighing, once again, he pushed himself again from the worktop and took the spoon he was searching for. He went back slowly to his chair at the dining table and plopped down unceremoniously on it. Placing his head on his palm, he stirred the beverage with his spoon at a slow pace, his mind somewhere else.

"There you are." The Doctor startled at the unexpected voice, a grimace made its way on his face at the pounding inside his head got stronger. He heard the person behind him coming closer but did nothing to let her know he had heard her. "What are you doing up at 6 am?"

The Doctor turned his gaze to the person by his side and met River’s eyes. "Couldn’t sleep." He said, dropping his gaze to his glass as he continued to stir it. 

River placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. She dropped her gaze to his glass too and frowned. "Are you alright?" 

Grimacing, the Doctor shrugged. "Not really." River gave him a sympathetic smile and brought her hand to the base of his hair, slowly massaging the nape of his neck. The Doctor sighed and waved his hand in front of his face. "My head is pounding like hell." He whispered, rubbing his temple for the pain to ease away. "And I can't even bweathe." He proved his point by sniffing. "My whole face is hurtin'" He said at last, waving his hand in front of him.

Sighing, he dropped his head to the table and a loud thump echoed, making the Doctor groan even more. River passed her hand through his hair, trying to sooth him the best way she could. When he straightened up, he placed his chin in his palm and looked through the window where the sun was slowly rising. 

River made her way to the kettle and prepared a tea for herself. Leaning on the worktop, she watched the Doctor and followed the path of his eyes. His eyes were fixed on the TARDIS outside the house, the morning light gave it a faint glow and it made its blue colour look brighter. Glancing back at the Doctor, she saw his unfocused eyes looking distant, as if he were in deep thoughts. 

When the kettle whistled, she poured herself a cup of tea and came near the Doctor, placing her hand on his shoulder once again. "Come outside with me." He raised his eyes to meet hers and nodded, standing up. He made his way to the backdoors and River took the blanket hanging at the back of his chair.

She made her way outside with her mug and the Doctor’s blanket in her hands. The Doctor was sitting on the steps of the porch with his glass in his hands. River came to sit next to him and placed the blanket around his shoulder. Catching a cold in the early morning was not the best thing to think for. Especially if you already had the flu. 

The Doctor took a deep breath, the fresh air doing wonders on his condition. He drank a bit of his beverage and grimaced at the horrid taste. River, next to him, watched the sunrise that peeked through the branches of the trees above them. Everything was silent around them, except for the small birds that jumped from branche to branche in the trees. In front of them, the TARDIS rested like a statue, awaiting for its master to be polished. River brought her tea to her lips, her hands woven around the steaming cup to keep her warm. Together, they watched the morning light illuminating the TARDIS from behind, producing a halo of light all around it.

The Doctor drank the final drop of his medicine and grimaced, coughing at the last trace of it on his tongue. River handed him her mug for him to get over the taste of his medicine. The taste of her tea down his throat, even with too little sugar for his liking, warmed him up and he felt instantly better.

Handing River her tea back, he dropped his head on her shoulder as she deposed the mug at her feet. The effect of the medicine plus having River by his side made him feel in a better shape. River placed her head on top of his and listened to the sounds of the nature waking up around them. 

The gaze of the Doctor fell on the TARDIS once again. This blue box held so much to him, together they did everything possible and even went beyond the impossible. They travelled as far as the universe could take them. All his life has been revolving around this blue box, and she had never let him down. She was his oldest friend. 

But now, she wasn’t his only friend anymore. He had a family now, they took care of him and in return he took care of them. And most importantly, they did what a machine could never do. They gave him unconditional love, through their kindness and their caring. It warmed his hearts to know that, for someone, he was worthy. Worthy of being loved, even when they knew who the Doctor really was under his shell.

Taking River’s hand in his, he wove their fingers together, stroking her knuckles with his thumb. When River straightened her head with a questioning look, he simply shook his head. Pulling her closer to him, he whispered faintly, "Maybe, one day, I’ll look at this backyard. With you by my side." He dropped his gaze to meet hers and smiled softly. "And I’ll tell myself 'This is where I want to grow old, this is where I want to stay forever'. And I know you’ll be there, and your parents too. Because you’re my family." 

River looked at him with an hopeful gaze but her smile fell when she understood his words. "But it’s not today…"

"No, it’s not today." He repeated with a far off look on his face. "But maybe…" He trailed off and pulled River closer to his chest. She placed her head on his chest, listening to the beating of his hearts and waiting for him to continue. 

The sun illuminated the backyard and the shadows slowly disappeared as the rays of the sun travelled up their feet to bath them in light. The air warmed around them and the birds began to sing their melody. The flowers opened up as the sun tickled their petals and the backyard was bathed in sunlight. Another day was readying itself.

After a minute, The Doctor whispered a final word, "Maybe." And River’s face bloomed into a smile.

—

During the day, the headache of the Doctor lessened and he felt better than he had in ages. That’s why, with River’s agreement, he had set himself to work on repairing the TARDIS. The latter had suffered severe damages and was totally drained from it’s internal energy. Tinkering a bit with the wires and an electricity pylon in the Ponds street, he managed to restore the energy base by plugging the pylon to the TARDIS with the help of some long wires. Amy wasn’t very happy of how he did it, River was quite impressed.

A little after midday, Rory joined them to lunch. His schedule was reversed since he worked during the night because of his night shifts and was forced to sleep over the day to recover from the hard work at the hospital. Nonetheless, the Pond family gathered around lunch and the Doctor even joked around, showing that he was getting better. Barely ill anymore.

In the afternoon, the Pond family decided to celebrate the wonderful weather at Leadworth. On this day of Spring, the sun was shining brightly. They, thus, decided to pull chairs outside and enjoy the warmth the sun brought to them. The Doctor didn’t even complain for a second about the boringness of this activity. The sun was making good of him and brought back the colours on his cheeks. 

Sitting around the table in the backyard with his family, the Doctor placed his hand on River’s thigh and took her hand that was resting there, weaving their fingers together. River looked up from her conversation. A smile played at his lips as she stroked his knuckles, the smile reflected on her face. 

At dinner, the Doctor felt the tiredness already running through his veins but he tried hard not to make it show. He participated in conversations and even showed his joy a bit too much at some point. At one point, during diner, River rubbed her foot against his calf, drawing his attention to her. She shot him a puzzled look from her position in from of him. River could always see right through him. He smiled and shook his head to say it was nothing. River, not convinced, squinted her eyes at him. Blowing her a kiss to drop the subject, he resumed his conversation with Rory. 

When he finished talking, he sank back in his chair, suppressing a yawn. He watched River and Amy talking together as they included Rory in their conversation. Bored, he stretched his legs under the table and began to travel his foot over River’s leg. She glanced furtively at him but said nothing. He continued his path up her leg slowly, teasing her and enjoying the way she hid her facial expressions from her parents view. 

When his foot traveled up her thigh and further, she suddenly clamped her thighs together, making him squeak as his foot was now stuck between her thighs. He hid his squeak by coughing but this resulted in a coughing fit. When his coughing calmed down, he apologised for the disturbance and glared at River. The latter looked at him with a raised eyebrow but quickly rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to her parents. The Doctor huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, placing his feet on the bar of River’s chair. She met his eyes, a threatening look in her eyes. He threw her a smile.

Amy watched the interaction between the two, an inquiring look on her face. Of course, she realised that her daughter and her boyfriend were playing footsie under her table. And of course, she could see the Doctor’s feet on the bar of her daughter’s chair. They maybe were good at hiding anything that was going on but she wasn’t blind, she could always see through them as she saw earlier that the Doctor was playing an act to hide his tiredness.

That night, the Doctor went to bed without a single ounce of his body being tired. He had been tired the whole day but when went the time to go to sleep he didn’t feel tired anymore. Funny how his body worked. He would have to analyse that later.

River came to bed a few minutes after him. He was already all tucked in when she lifted the covers to slide into bed. He snuggled closer to her and pulled her to his chest. Winding his arms around her waist, he placed his head above her hair and inhaled her scent. She smelled like vanilla and citrus, he loved how she smelled, he always felt more relaxed when those scents were around him.

River raised her head to meet his. "Goodnight, my love." 

"'Night, honey." He said in a faint whisper. He kissed her on the mouth and River hummed in return. When they broke the kiss, the Doctor settled further into the pillow, his arms still circling her waist. They fell silent for a moment, the Doctor didn’t want to sleep, he wasn't tired anymore. He closed his eyes and tried to empty his mind, without success. 

River stretched a leg between his, the contact between their bare legs made him shiver. However hard he tried, he couldn’t empty his mind from thoughts, they kept coming back to one thing. Not being able to hold any longer, he sighed.

"River…" He called out in a whisper, hoping she wasn’t already asleep. After a moment of silence, River hummed, letting him know she was listening. The Doctor brought his hand underneath her pyjama top and began to run his hand against her bare back. Humming once again, River edge closer to his body, waiting for him to finish what he was saying. The Doctor brought his lips close to her ear, for her to hear him better. "I want to make love to you."

River opened her eyes slowly and raised her them to look at his face. He was watching her attentively, waiting for a response to his announcement. Bringing her hand to his face, River caressed his cheekbone with a finger and saw his eyes close slowly. She lowered her hand to his lips and drew her mouth closer to his. When they were only millimetres apart, the Doctor reopened his eyes, feeling her breath so close to him. Their eyes met and River smiled softly, "I thought you’d never ask."

In the shadow of the night, the Doctor smiled and pushed his mouth towards hers to close the gap between them. But, before he could kiss her, River pushed him on his back and he opened his eyes in surprise. He watched her, a sly grin adorning her face as she straddled his hips. Taking her head in his hand, he pulled her to him to press his lips to hers. They kissed vigorously, their tongue meeting halfway inside of their mouth. Their scent mingled and formed a whole new scent, a mix of him and her, mixing space and time with the sensation of home.

The Doctor made a strangled noise of pleasure in the back of his throat and River broke the kiss, levering herself onto her elbow. "Hush, don’t make any noise." She whispered, attacking his neck with kisses and small teasing bites. "I don’t want them barging on the door because of our night activities."  

The Doctor nodded simply and angled his head on the side to let River kiss his neck more thoroughly. When their lips met again, the Doctor lowered his hands to stroke every bit of her. He ran his hand against her back and descended even more, grabbing her ass with both hands. Pushing his hips into hers, the Doctor suppressed a moan into her mouth. River bit his lower lip to beg him to stay quiet, it only increased his want for her.

His hands still groping her ass, the Doctor lifted his hips to meet hers and she squirmed a bit on top of him. Making him break the kiss, he gasped at the sudden feeling of her on him. The slim layer of clothing separating them did nothing to hide their want for each other. 

He pushed his hands underneath the fabric of her shorts, trying to remove it the best he could. River wiggled out of her shorts and knickers and helped the Doctor removing his boxer too. His erection sprang into place and River took him in hand, caressing the length of him. He begged her to stop before it would be all over and River came back to straddling him. Their mouth met again and they shared a messy kiss. The Doctor lowered his hand between her legs and felt the wetness of her being rubbed against his hard length. River took him in hand and aligned her entrance with him.

When River sank into him, the whole world stopped moving. She braced her hands against his chest for leverage and they both stilled, enjoying each other as they were finally full. After a moment, the Doctor gripped her hips and urged her to move. She began to roll her hips against his and he met her halfway each time, their thrusts in sync. River dropped her head to her chest, the wave of pleasure overpowering her. With each trust, the Doctor felt his eyes roll into his orbits and with each trust he felt the tension in his lower abdomen getting higher and higher.

River rolled her hips above him while a wave of pleasure ran through her. She placed her hand in front of her mouth to repress a moan but she couldn’t prevent it from still being loud. The Doctor pulled her to him, his hands fixed on the small of her back, wanting to touch every inch of her at the same time. He kissed her to stop her from moaning to loudly but this was River and River wasn’t one to be silent during sex. 

When he gripped River’s hips tightly to him, he felt her quiver all around him. She let go of his mouth to hid her face in the crook of his neck, her thrusts becoming less and less measured. His breathing became more and more erratic and he found it hard to keep a good pace in his thrust. His mind was blank of any thought and the only thing he was aware of was River all around him. She breathed heavily into his neck, the moans muffled by him.

The Doctor felt her walls tightening around him as River climaxed. She bit his clavicule and he came inside of her with an eye rolling orgasm. She lay on top of him, totally spent. Her breathing returned to a normal pace and she placed her hand on his chest to feel his hearts thumping inside of his ribcage. When River came down from her high, she rolled to her side and the Doctor followed the movement, encircling her in his arms. He brought his mouth to her and kissed her as they regained their breath.

"God, I love you." He whispered, still panting. 

Her chest heaving, River brushed a lock of hair from his sweaty forehead. "I love you too, sweetie." She sighed into his arms. Taking the covers of the bed that had fallen at their feet, she placed it on top of them to protect them from the coldness of the bedroom after their intercourse. 

The Doctor closed his eyes, a content smile on his face. River closed her eyes too, taking his hand in hers and stroking his knuckles with her thumb. No more than three seconds later, the Doctor was fast asleep and snoring.

—

"Don’t do anything stupid this time, eh." Amy whispered in the Doctor’s ear as they hugged goodbye. She ran her hand down his back in a soothing manner before stepping back. She held the Doctor at arm length, looking into his eyes with a bit of worry. The Doctor nodded and hugged her once more, not saying anything. "You take care of yourself and you take care of her."

"Yes, Pond." He whispered back and drew away. They looked at each other for a moment and then Amy smiled, taking his face in her hands to place a kiss on his cheek. When, she gazed at him with a profound look of worry, he rolled his eyes at her. "Come on, I’m alright now. I’m super okay now, I’m the king of okay even." He laughed, smoothing the lapels of his tweed to prove his point.

Amy nodded finally and let go of him. She cast a glance at Rory behind her and smiled softly. The Pond family was in their backyard, the TARDIS was awaiting her thief and her daughter to go and take them to another adventure.

Like the day before, the sun was set high in the sky and there weren’t any clouds obscuring its rays. Spring was definitely there in Leadworth, the trees were beginning to get green once again the flowers were blossoming, their colours illuminating the flower beds. Birds were singing their melodies at full lung and flew over the Pond family house. 

River watched the interaction from her position at the foot of the TARDIS. She didn’t like goodbyes. It was always sad and sometimes full of tears. But this time, watching the Doctor and her mother say goodbye, she smiled. The Doctor was well on his feet now and had had the permission to go back to his TARDIS, with her by his side, obviously. This small week at her parent’s house has done her good, surrounded by her family and the Doctor she felt at home more than everywhere. In this week she has understood many things. Many things about her family but most importantly, many things about herself. And thinking about it now, she realised that she wasn’t the only one to had made this discovery.

"River." Glancing up in the direction of the voice, she found her mother smiling at her with her arms outstretched in her direction. Smiling back, she moved forwards and engulfed her mother in a hug. "Don’t let him do anything stupid, okay?" River nodded, her face in the crook of her neck. She felt her mother brush her hair with her palm and squeezed her shoulder in a silent plea. "Take care of him but first take care of yourself."

"Yes, mum." River whispered, her voice muffled by Amy’s hair.

Her mother tightened her grip on her, rubbing her back. "Oh, my little girl. How you’ve grown." Her heart constricting inside her ribcage, River patted her mother’s back. She wasn’t the best in matter of showing affection to her parents or to anyone else really, except for the Doctor but he was her boyfriend so that was understandable. But she tried she show them that she still loved them nonetheless, they were here for her and she would always be there for them. "I’m so proud of you."

They stepped back and River smiled at her mother, they understood each other without the need for words. After all, they were best friends and had known each other for a very long time.

They turned their gaze to the two men currently hugging each other. When the Doctor stepped back, he caught River’s gaze and smiled. She smiled back before hugging her father goodbye. Rory patted her back, "Goodbye, River. And good luck for your exams."

River drew back, a smile adorning her face, "Thanks, dad." She said, leaning on her tiptoe to kiss his cheek. After doing so, she looked around her at her family. It was time to go, now.

She stretched her hand towards the Doctor and he took it, lancing their fingers together. They walked to the TARDIS’ doors and turned around one last time. Her parents watched them with smiles on their face. River waved at them from her position on the threshold and the Doctor opened the door behind her.

At last, they entered the TARDIS and closed the door behind them. The Doctor walked to the control panel, running his hands through the bits and knobs like a silent greeting for his ship that he hasn’t seen in a long time. In truth, she supposed he was. 

Climbing the stairs leading to the console, she came next to the Doctor, circling a hand around his biceps. "Where are we going?" She asked and the Doctor glanced at her, his fringe falling into his eyes. He put his hand on top of the red lever and River did the same.

"The stars." He said, lowering the lever, making the TARDIS sprang into life.

 

**Author's Note:**

> That got really long, didn't it? Well, at least I hope you liked it :)


End file.
